Tle Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Courage
by WolfsTrinity-TSO
Summary: Link has just awakened after the seven year sleep in OoT, and now he has to find and awaken 6 elemental sages, as well as the three sages of the triforce. But with time running out he can't find the sage of courage. DISCONTINUED
1. prologue

Me and my friend (who also has a profile on this site but who's name i forgot) were going to qork on this together but as i had this written and got impatient, i'm posting this anyway. Note that this is only the first draft for most of it(i stopped writing and when i continued i ended up revising the beginning) and probably has a lot of spelling errors. It will probably take awhile for me to write and post the first chapter, but if people give me positive reveiws and/or put this on their story alert list, it will probably(more like hopefully really) speed me up. wow, i just noticed that FF has a spellchecker, so expect my stories to have fewer grammar mistakes in the future. I can't beleive i missed that, lol.

* * *

The Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Courage

Prologue:Rauru

"Link..."a voice called"wake up...Link, the chosen one"

When Link opened his eyes, he found himself standing upon an odd platform. It appeared to be made of glass, and glowing blue water moved beneath. He was standing on a grey space in the center of a golden Triforce emblem. There were six symbols, around the edge of the platform, similar to the ones in the Temple of Time but colored and they appeared to be rising out of the platform. All around was a void. His gaze wandered, then focused on an old man, rather large, who stood on a golden yellow symbol. He wore orange robes with a large red cross wrapping around the center. He had a white mustache, thin near his mouth, but widening out at his cheeks. The man appeared to be bald on top.

"I am Rauru, one of the ancient sages" He said. His voice was the one that had awakened him.

"Ages ago,"Rauru continued"we ancient sages built three temples to protect the entrance to the sacred realm: The Temple of Courage, for Farore, the Temple of Wisdom, for Nayru, and the Temple of Power, for Din. After a long age, It was unified into just one temple, the Temple of Time, where Farore's once stood. This is the Chamber of Sages inside the Temple of Light. The Temple of Light, situated in the very heart of the Sacred Realm, is the last stronghold against Ganondorf's evil forces. The Master Sword, The evil destroying sword that you pulled out of the pedestal of Time, was the final key to the Sacred Realm. Link, don't be alarmed. Look at yourself."

Link looked down over his body, expecting to see nothing out of the ordinary. What he saw startled him. Where there had once been a ten year old boy in a simple green tunic was now a strong teen wearing a tight white shirt underneath a forest green tunic with chain mail attached to the inside. He was wearing leather gauntlets and white tights as well as brown boots which covered his legs nearly to the knee. Link's Hylian shield, which had formerly been too big for him to use, had become just the right size for him, or rather he'd become the right size for it.

"Look Link!"Navi, Link's small blue fairy friend, pointed out"Your big now! You've grown up!"

"What happened?" he asked Rauru.

"The Master Sword is a sacred blade which evil ones may never touch."The sage explained"Only one worthy of being called Hero of Time may pull it from the Pedestal of Time. However, you were too young to be called The Hero of Time, so your spirit was sealed here for seven years. But now, you are ready to awaken. But remember, though you opened the Door of Time in the name of peace, Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Theives, used it to enter this forbidden sacred realm. He obtained the Triforce, and with it's power he became the king of evil. His power radiated from the temples, and has transformed Hyrule into a land of monsters. My power now has very little significance, even here. But there is still hope. The power of the sages remains. When the power of all the Sages is awakened, They will empower three beings, enabling them to seal Ganondorf away in the Sacred Realm.

"It is your destiny, as the hero of time, to awaken the sages, and seek out these three beings, the Sages of Courage, Wisdom, and Power. Then, with the powers of the other sages combined, seek out Ganondorf and banish him into the sacred realm! Take this medallion as a sign that the light sage Rauru has added his power to yours." Rauru took from his robes a smaller version of the golden yellow symbol he stood on and gave it to Link.

"you will reappear exactly where you were when you withdrew the Master Sword"Rauru said, his voice fading away as Link's vision went white"Good luck"


	2. Chapter 1: Stalchildren

beginning notes: it's finally here! i finally dragged my lazy bum up to finish this, though it's not as long as i originally planned. I guess i prefer breaking important things into smaller chapters, rather than one big one. It is over twice the size of the prologue though. Also note that there is swearing in this one. And, since i can't think of anything else to put until the end, enjoy!

* * *

The Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Courage

Chapter one: Stalchildren

A blue pillar of light fades. Link and Navi are back in the temple of time.

"Link!" Navi squeaks, "We're back in the Temple of Time!"

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious" Link replies sarcastically.

"Sorry" Replies the fairy, "I do that sometimes when I'm excited. Hey, do you think seven years have really passed?"

"It's no problem" replies Link, "and I was kind of curious about that myself"

"It looks like some of that stuff you found as a kid is too small for you now"

Yeah. Let's not just stand here. We should get going"

They hadn't gotten off the pedestal when Link sensed a presence behind him. He turned around, drawing his sword to reveal a man in the classic sheikah garb; a white tunic with the symbol, in red, of an eye above what looked like a capitol Y over a blue jumpsuit. His face was covered completely by white cloth but for one red eye and blond bangs.

"I've been waiting for you," he said, "Hero of Time. When evil rules all, an awakening voice from the sacred realm will call those destined to be sages who dwell in the five temples. One in a deep forest, one on a high mountain, one under a vast lake, one within the house of the dead, one inside a goddess of the sand. Together with the hero of time, the awakened ones will bind the evil and return the light of peace to the world. This is the legend of the temples as passed down by my people, the Sheikah.

"I an Sheik, survivors of the Sheikah. As I see you standing there, holding the mythical Master Sword, you really do look like the legendary Hero of Time. If you believe the legend, you have no choice. You must look for the five temples, and awaken the five sages.

"One sage is waiting for the time of awakening in the forest temple. The Sage is a girl I'm sure you know. Because of the evil power in the temple, she cannot hear the awakening call. Unfortunately, equipped as you are, you cannot even enter the temple. But, if you believe what I'm saying, you should head for Kakariko village. Find the ghost of Dante, the former grave keeper. He has an item you will need to enter the temple. Farewell, Link." Sheik threw something on the ground, there was a flash, and then he was gone.

"That was weird" Link commented as they walked out of the temple.

"yeah. What should we do now?" asked his fairy companion.

"Let's check up on Malon first. It'll take a good week longer, but the time we'll save later if we can get a horse is worth it."Link said after some thought, "Besides, I'm worried about her."

As they left the temple, Link and Navi immediately looked around and saw the differences. The sky was darker, not overcast but something deeper. The air seemed smothered, thicker and somehow darker. In the east, death mountain seemed more active. A red glow emanated from it's crater. About one hundred feet away, Castle Town seemed decrepit and silent. The building were more dull, and as he walked closer Link noticed that some had been partially destroyed. Entering the town, Link saw these..._things _walking around, moaning_. _Gaunt and hollow forms of people, mummified skin stretched over hollow eye sockets and blanks faces.

"Redeads, "Link whispered, horrified, "They've been turned into Redeads" Quickly he pulled out the Ocarina of Time and played The Sun's Song, freezing the Redeads. Then he bolted for the gate. After leaving castle town, the sky got a little lighter, the air a little less gloomy, and by the time Link was a quarter mile away from the town, the air was back to normal.

It had been around noon when they started, and after covering about three more miles, it was sunset. Link took out his sword and shield, preparing for battle. A wolf howled in the distance, and then they came. Three Stalchildren, reanimated skeletons of the dead, rose out of the ground. Unlike Redeads, Stalchildren were totally skeletal but for loincloths at their waists, their eye sockets glowed with a red light out of weirdly distorted skulls, and their hands had become claws. They were also a whole lot more mean.

Link charged up a spin attack, letting them get close before he unleashed it, cutting them down. After killing six more this way, they stopped left him alone for the night. Navi then pulled Link's tent and bedroll from fairy space and he went to sleep. This, Navi had told him as a kid, was a small dimension that things could be stored in and then instantly pulled right out of the air. Fairies knew how to use it by instinct, and other creatures could learn how to as well. Or something like that. Link hadn't really been paying attention. He got up at dawn, ate breakfast, then continued on.

He travelled like this for several days, occasionally passing small villages, the ones closer to castle town in ruins but the ones farther away prosperous though scared. Mostly though he just passed through farmland. Then there was a full moon. Instead of leaving him alone after six came, the stalchildren just kept coming and coming, and after a few groups Link was getting thoroughly worn out.

"what happened?" Link asked, slashing one in half, "They're popping up faster than I can kill them off"

"I don't know!" replied a panicked Navi. By that point they were surrounded by no less than 15 stalchildren.

Suddenly, they saw a stranger in the distance, sprinting towards them. He was in a dark cloak, hard to see against the dark of night if you weren't looking. The only reason they noticed him was because it had appeared red in the moonlight for a moment. He pulled out twin broadswords, trailing them behind him and for a moment, he seemed to glow with a fiery, red-orange glow. Then he was upon them.

The stranger spun his blades in a circle, low at first then rising. He stumbled a little, as though unused to such heavy swords, then fought on until he reached Link and Navi.

"Cover me!" he yelled as he charged up his swords for another spin, "Then duck on my signal" Link attacked any stalchildren who got close enough then went prone as waves of magic fueled fire sailed over his head, annihilating the rest of the stalchildren. The stranger hurriedly sheathed his swords. He took out a bottle of liquid and poured it in a broad circle around them, then set it aflame.

"We're OK for now," he said, "They don't like fire, lucky for me."

"Thanks for saving us," Link replied, "I'm Link, and this is Navi, my fairy friend. Who are you?"

I'm a mercenary. Usually I travel around Hyrule, defending towns for food and shelter. I'm known as Blade Wolf, Flame Dancer. You, though, can call me Orion."

As he said this, he opened his cloak and threw back his hood to reveal an outfit similar to Link's, a dark red tunic with the symbol of the Gorons on the front over a black shirt and loose black pants tucked into red-brown gauntlets and boots the color of natural clay. Instead of a conical hat, however, Orion wore a plain headband of the same dried blood color of his tunic. A little bit of chain mail poked out beyond the red of his tunic, revealing that like Link's, it was lined with it on the back.

Orion was tall and pale but with a red-brown tinge to his skin, but not a giant, average of build at first glance but without any fat, only raw muscle. His face was gaunt, having lost all it's fat from traveling. Orion's eyes were blue-green, but with an odd red tinge to them, and his hair, which looked like he'd just let it grow and crudely cut it with a knife just before shoulder length, was dirty brown with an orange tinge.

"It's you!" Link exclaimed, "I thought I recognized your voice!"

"yeah," Orion said with a smile, "It's me." Then, his mood darkening, "Where the _hell_'ve you been!? I haven't seen you in seven years! I thought somebody like you would fight!"

"It's a long story" replied Link, "and I doubt you'd believe me."

"try me" dared Orion. So Link told him what he'd gone through since last they'd met. It took awhile, and when he was done Link showed Orion the Master Sword.

"That just might be the craziest story I've ever heard," Orion said, picking up the sword, "But this blade has power in it. More power than ever I've seen, so I believe you. So, the way I see it, I've got two options. Either one: I let you go on this insane journey of yours while I continue trying, but ultimately failing, to help the people of Hyrule. This will end up with you being severely traumatized then killed and me making Ganondorf mad enough to go after me with something big enough to kill me.

"Or there's choice two: I help you along your journey which will actually do good if you don't get killed, which will ultimately ensure it's success and prevent you from going insane. Really of course this means there's only one choice, since my conscience will kill me if I do the first thing. So, I'm going with you, got it?"

"Thanks, I was going to ask you anyway," Link replied, relieved.

After that they went to bed, Orion using his cloak as a blanket. As he was trying to sleep, Link thought back to when he'd first met Orion . . .

* * *

End notes: Mwahahahahaha the dreaded cliffhanger! Don't worry, the next chapter, though likely much shorter than this one, will come out much faster, as i'm really looking forward to it. With the chain mail thing, i think i forgot to mention that in the prologue, sorry! Also, which i'm sure i didn't mention, in this fanfic, Link's tunics have the mark of the different races on them. In other words, Link's green tunic has the kokiri emblem on it(like on the deku shield), his goron tunic, which is a lighter color than Orion's has the goron symbol, and his zora tunic has the symbol of the zoras on it.


	3. Chapter twomemories

Well, I've decided to stop working on this. Why? Because, epic and grand as the idea is, it's just too close to the original, and just getting impossible to work on. I would start working on it, type like two sentances then stop. It's just getting too annoying to write. Here's, unedited and probably very bad, what I had of the second chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

The Legend of Zelda: The Sage of Courage

Chapter two:

A strange boy walked slowly into Kakariko village, clad in the forest green tunic of a Kokiri and trailed by a fairy. He was spotted immediately by the boy atop an old watchtower in the center of the village. Orion, the boy on the tower was about two years older than Link, wearing a dark red tunic and head band, and with two long, slightly narrow swords at his belt. He was humming a low tune to himself when he saw Link. He decided to investigate the strange newcomer to the village. It was really more the size of a large town at that point, but for tradition's sake people still called it a village.

"Hey!" He called as he ran towards the newcomer,"What brings you here in clothes like that, and what's your name?"

"I'm Link,"Replied the stranger,"and this little ball of light is Navi. I'm a Kokiri, and we're on a mission from Princess Zelda. We need to go to Death Mountain." At this Orion just laughed.

"I'm serious," Link replied, embarrassed,"She gave me this letter as proof." He took a sheet of folded paper from his pocket and showed it to Orion. It was real.

"OK, I believe you now," Orion said,"sorry about that. Let me show you the way. I'm going there anyway to see my mom. She's the ambassador to the Gorons so she's up there a lot." He led Link up some stairs to the middle level of the three tiered village, past some construction workers building what looked like a shop, then up more stairs and to a gate blocking off the path.

"Hey," Orion greeted the guard on one side, "This guy Link managed to get a letter from Princess Zelda to let him go in." Link handed the letter to the guard, who scrutinized it for a long time.

"Well, this is definitely real, though I have no idea how you managed to get it." the guard finally said, "It'd probably be a good idea to get a Hylian shield, though. A wooden one like that won't do much good. Orion there should be able to get you one. His dad's the town blacksmith."

"alright," replied Link, "thanks for the advice. I'll be back when I get one and you can open the gate then."

"my dad's shop is on the bottom level," Orion said, "I'll show you" Link followed him back down the two sets of stairs and over to a large open sided building with a large forge in the center.

Various tool and several different types and sizes of swords hung on posts and racks around the building, as well as several identical shields. There was a man hammering something into shape. He was tall, tanned, and muscular, with dark brown hair.

"Hi, dad," Orion said as they waked up to him, "Link here's going to Death Mountain, but he still needs a metal shield. You got one?"

"Sure," Replied Orion's father in a deep bass voice, turning to face them, "it's a bit big for him, though, I'm afraid, and I can't just give away a good shield, but since he's your friend I'll give it to him for only forty rupees."

"alright," Link said, taking out his wallet, "Here, and thanks a lot"

"no problem," Orion's father replied as he gave Link a shield. Navi made his Deku Shield disappear and then Link put the metal one on his back.

"bye dad," Orion called as they walked away, "I'm going too to see mom and make sure he doesn't get himself killed"

"alright, just be back by next week. I'll need your help with the monthly order of spears to the castle"

"You already know my dad's the town blacksmith," Orion explained to Link as they took the ten minutes needed to get to the gate, "He used to train guards up at the castle in swordsmanship, until he quit when nobody took him seriously any more. Now I'm his apprentice, both as a master of sword arts and a blacksmith." By then they were at the gate again.

"So you've got a shield," The guard said, "alright, I'll let you through." He pulled a lever beside him, causing the gates to swing open.

"Hey, what's your excuse?" He asked Orion as he stepped through after Link.

"oh, nothing," Orion said sarcastically, "I'm just as strong as a goron my same age and my mom's the ambassador to 'em"

"Ahh, I'm just kiddin, ya know" the guard replied grinning, "Have a nice trip, and try not to get Link killed."

It was morning when Link had arrived in Kakariko, and it was noon two days later when they got to Goron City. Over those two days, Link and Orion had become good friends.

The entrance to the city was a large, half-sphere cave, with a raised platform in the middle with a circle of small stones on it. There was a doorway in the back and two Gorons were guarding one on either side of the doorway.

"Hey Orion," the one on the left said in it's deep, gravelly voice, "here to see your mom?"

"Yeah," replied the boy in a red tunic, "and my friend Link here needs to see Darunia. Lucky guy managed to get a letter from Princess Zelda."

"That might be a problem," the guard replied, scratching his rocky 'hair', "King Darunia's shut himself in his room. I don't know much myself. You'll have to ask around inside, but it's pretty bad."

"Alright, thanks for the tip," that time it was Link who spoke.

"no problem, kid," the guard said back, "see ya." The two boys walked through the doorway and entered a massive cave. Several tiers descended to the center, where a great vase stood. A small platform hung slightly down from the top tier by three ropes. It had a stand on it, and it was obviously intended to display something. There were archways in the side of every tier, but only a few Gorons walking slowly about. There was only one Hylian in the cavern, a woman with fiery red hair standing near a closed doorway on the bottom tier. She was wearing a dark red ankle-length dress, with black sleeves that flared at the ends like a robe. She had been conversing with a Goron, but when she noticed the boys, she ran up to them. It was a big city, and it took awhile.

"That's my mom," Orion said simply while she was on her way up. As she reached the highest tier, Link saw that her dress had a slit running from the bottom up to the knee to allow for easier movement, and that her skin shared Orion's red-brown tinge. He also noticed a symbol on the front comprised of the Goron's emblem flanked by the wings of a Hylian phoenix.

"Hey Orion," She said when she reached them, hugging her son, "who's your friend?"

"This is Link," Orion replied, "He needs to see Darunia."

"yeah, well so do I," His mom stated, "He won't let anybody in unless they know the royal family's song. Unfortunately that counts me out."

"Wait, I think I know what that is," Link said, pulling out his fairy ocarina, "Zelda taught me a song before I left. She was talking about something like that."

"Well, go ahead and try it, then," Orion's mom replied. Link ran towards the nearest staircase, and after about ten minutes he was, breathless, in front of the door. He put his Ocarina to his lips, and played Zelda's lullaby. As the last notes faded, the stone door slowly ground into the wall. Behind it, on a throne of stone, sat a very large Goron, his large rock-carved muscles twitching in annoyance.

"He's Darunia," Orion, who'd caught up with Link, whispered, "boss of the Gorons. And unfortunately, he's in a really bad mood. If you know any exciting music, that _might_ work."

"Try Saria's song," Navi suggested. Link nodded, once again took out his ocarina, stepped up to Darunia, and played. A light melody, reminiscent of the forest, emanated from it. The effect was immediate. Darunia twitched at the corner of his mouth once, twice, then burst out laughing, got up, and started dancing like crazy. He went on like this for several minutes then, panting, he rested him hands on his knees.

"Sorry about that," He said after regaining his breath, "That song just made me really excited. I just couldn't stop dancing. Who are you, and why have you come to me?"

Link introduced himself than said, "I need the spiritual stone of fire."

"you're the second one to ask for that recently. The other was a Gerudo named Ganondorf. He had an evil look, though, and when I refused to give it to him, he sent a bunch of his monsters into the cavern where we get our food and then sealed it off. If you can clear out Dodongo's Cavern of all the monsters, I'll give you the Goron's Ruby."

"fair enough," Link replied with a shrug.

"OK, well you'll need these to use the bomb flowers scattered around Death Mountain. It'll give you the strength of a Goron," Darunia took out a small brass or gold arm band with the Goron symbol on it from somewhere, and put it on Link's wrist. The boy immediately felt a surge of strength rush through his arms.

"I'm going too," Orion stated, "most of my friends are Gorons, end even without that, I still don't want them to starve."

"alright," Link replied, "but won't you need one of these, too?" In reply, Orion simple walked over to a bomb flower growing on the wall and with one mighty underhanded throw, landed it dead center in the massive pot.


End file.
